| Memorandum from the Southeastern Synod Officers |
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To Southeastern Synod rostered leaders:
Below is the text of a memo, from the synod officers, mailed out today to all of the congregations in the Southeastern Synod.
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Date: September 16, 2009
To: Congregations and rostered leaders of the Southeastern Synod
From: Synod Officers:
Julian Gordy, Bishop
Wesley Crenshaw, Vice President
Terri Stagner-Collier, Secretary
John Lucht, Treasurer
Re: Financial actions taken by Synod Council, September 2009
At its June meeting, the Synod Council appointed four of its members to work with the Budget & Finance Committee to make recommendations about what to do concerning the difficult financial reality of the synod. The purpose of this memo is to inform you of the actions taken at the September meeting of the Synod Council in response to that task force's report.
First, a brief description of where our synod is financially as of the end of August:
· The deficit in our operating budget through August was a negative $131,440.
· Mission support projections are at least $444,000 under budget for this year.
Combining the grim economy with the possible fall-out from the actions of the churchwide assembly, the situation does not look like it will be improving in the near future. Therefore, the Synod Council reluctantly has taken the following actions:
· Reduce authorized spending from the "Salaries & Housing" budget line by 10% for the months of September 2009 through January 2010. These salary reductions are not across-the-board reductions, but have been arranged so that those staff members who have higher salaries receive proportionately larger reductions;
· Reduce authorized spending from the "Pension, Insurance, & Other Benefits" budget line by the appropriate amounts linked to reduction in salaries;
· Reduce regular monthly support payments to Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Lutheran Theological Center in Atlanta, Lutheridge/Lutherock, Georgia Tech Campus Ministry, Atlanta University Campus Ministry, University of Georgia Campus Ministry, and Tyson House Campus Ministry by 15 percent for the months of October 2009 through January 2010. (The $65,000 funding previously approved for Lutheranch, will be exempt from this reduction since this support is funded by a separate fund that is not dependent on mission support contributions.);
· Reduce regular monthly payments to Lutheran Services in Tennessee, Lutheran Ministries of Alabama, Lutheran Services of Georgia, Lutheran-Episcopal Services in Mississippi, Newberry College, ELCMA, Georgia Christian Council, Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference; and Day One by 20 percent for the months of October 2009 through January 2010;
· Reduce authorized spending from the "Synod Office" budget line by 8% for this fiscal year;
· Eliminate all authorized spending from the "Emergency Assistance" budget line for this fiscal year; and
· Limit allocations for newly formed committees and task forces to no more than $5,000 total for the remainder of the 2009-10 fiscal year, with such spending to be funded from the unused budgeted lines previously approved for the commissions that were disbanded by recent restructuring changes.
The Council is aware that these are significant cuts and that in making the salary reductions we are asking staff to continue their good work for significantly less pay. We will also be sending the agencies and institutions we support less money than previously committed.
We are grateful for the support that we receive from the people and congregations of the synod and hope that mission support will improve so that we will not have to consider additional cuts in the future.
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